From Rags To Riches
by KousukeAsazuki
Summary: When a stranger from a foreign land steals a memento from Sora, he gets thrown into a family feud, with family he didn't even know he had, and an ancient curse affecting them all. \\SeiferHayner, RikuSora; slight AU; involvement of OCs//
1. Chapter 1

Hi! Hm... this is my first Kingdom Hearts fic, and I'm not really sure where I'll be going with this. I'm sure it'll get lost in the thousands of fics in the section, but I thought I'd just give it a go. Yes, it's just another RikuSora fic, but hopefully someone out there will like it. So, with that said, enjoy!

* * *

_"Not again." _Sora thought, his cerulean eyes scanning the empty streets of downtown Twilight Town. A small sigh escaped through his parted lips as he ran a hand through his messy locks. It had been the third night in a row that he'd lost track of the boy. Wiping a bead of sweat off his brow, he leaned back against the alley wall that was surprisingly clean. He had chased the mysterious figure through the streets of Traverse Town until he rounded the last corner where he had found nothing but cobblestone streets and the darkened windows of apartments, hotels, and houses. Street lights flooded the abandoned corridors of the town as another scan confirmed that the strange boy had once again vanished into the dark of the night. Clear blue shut behind eyelids as the small boy recalled his first encounter with the, what he could only assume was an older boy.

_Flashback_

_"Hey, wait!" Sora yelled, running down an all but empty street. Only one figure besides himself occupied it, and was currently dashing through the street lights, disappearing into the dark spaces in between that the dim light from the worn bulbs didn't quite illuminate, and once more reappearing as he passed under the lamps adorning the sidewalks and streets. No matter how fast Sora ran, he couldn't quite catch up with the robed figure, whose clothes consisted of what appeared to be fine silks, layer upon layer building upon his figure. A few strands of material fluttered behind him in the gentle breeze that he created, whipping back and forth every now and then as he dodged left and right to avoid various crates and posts that blocked his way. "I said hold on!" Another shout came from the boy, who was by now worn out and sweating. He had followed this boy at least three times through the town, and noticed perhaps an air of irritation about the one being pursued. They rushed through the back alley and out into the Sandlot, which was as empty as the rest of the town. Sora idly remarked how it was ironic how the town had the name of twilight, but hardly no one was out at such a time. Shaking his head, he looked around and mentally kicked himself for distracting his own mind. The strange boy had vanished and there was no way to tell where he had gone to. From his appearance, Sora knew he wasn't from the same town, and wondered what he could want._

_A small frown graced his pale lips as he gripped at his shirt, _"He took my necklace." _He thought, sighing slightly. It was why he had been so intent on catching the thief, since the necklace, which had no retail value that he knew of, was the only thing he had left from his father. It had been given to him when he was just a child, and he had always guarded it with his life. Though, nothing had ever threatened his life to take it, but he always promised himself he'd never let it go. Then, just like that, it had been snatched from his neck while he wasn't looking and the cloaked boy had run off with it. His breathing slowing finally, Sora took one last look around before confirming that he'd lost him-- at least, Sora assumed it was another male that had run off. The person had the figure of a boy, but they had been almost fully covered and in many layers of cloths. Not quite sure about anything, the short brunette turned to head home._

_End Flashback_

The two had yet another encounter after that. Sora immediately recognized the thief, who was exiting the home of one of the town's residents. Thinking back, he supposed it could have been the boy's home, but something about the stranger struck Sora that he wasn't staying long, just passing through. It was more than the clothes and the fact that he only ever saw the person after dark. Something about his presence gave off the sense of warning or caution; that perhaps Sora should just let go of the necklace and count his losses. The young boy, however, didn't pay attention to the aura that practically forbid him from proceeding and once again embarked on a chase that ended with him at the Sandlot, alone. Every one of the three times he had chased the boy, he had ended up in that same spot. Accordingly, each time something had distracted him. The first time, it was his thoughts, the second he had come at an inconvenient time and there was a late night celebration and he had lost the stranger in the crowd. This final time, he had lost him coming around the corner.

"You shouldn't be wandering the streets so late at night." A voice from behind the boy warned. Sora spun around to come face to face with another boy. He was seemingly around the brunette's age, but considerably taller-- then again, Sora had always been small for his age, so it wasn't really a surprise. The strange boy had long silver locks of hair that brushed past his shoulders and seemed to flow with him as he cocked his head to the side, studying the shorter boy before him. His almost piercing sea-green eyes mesmerized Sora's cerulean blue ones as they locked for an instant. No sooner, though, and the boy's tanned hand came to run through those silver tresses, pushing back a...

_"Headdress?" _Sora thought, blinking as he took in the other one's appearance once again. Fine silk linens layered upon his body and fancy jewelry adorned with expensive gems seemed to be what the new-comer's outfit consisted of. Taking a moment to realize it, Sora blinked once more as it all clicked. Late night meeting, strange, expensive clothing. This was the guy he had been chasing! No sooner did he realize it then he had the more muscular one pinned to the ground, straddling his waist in an attempt to keep him pinned down.

"Woah, kid!" The silver-haired thief shouted, placing a hand on the fragile chest to keep the boy at a safe distance, "It was just a warning, no need to go psycho on me."

"Give it back!" Was Sora's only response, his deep blue orbs narrowing at the attractive figure under him. Any other situation, any other time, and this realization would have sunk in about now and made the younger one turn into a tomato from embarrassment. Not now, though, Sora was too focused on getting his necklace back.

"Give...what back?" The confusion in his voice was a hard one to manufacture, even for professionals. Sora was damned if he was going to fall for it, though.

"The necklace you stole from me two nights ago!" The angered boy yelled, his voice echoing off the walls and alleys, "You took it right from my neck, give it back!"

The green-eyed boy blinked, again expressing his confusion, "Look, kid, I've never seen you before. I don't have your necklace. Whoever took it wasn't me, I only arrived here three days ago, why would I start out my new life by stealing some necklace from a child?"

"I'm not a child, I'm fifteen!"

The older one was taken back slightly by this statement, "Fifteen? Jeez, I thought you were like...eight or something, you're so tiny."

"Hey!" Noticing that he was losing track of his goal, he raised a fist in the air, ready to bring it down upon the pretty face, "Give me my necklace back!"

"I. Don't. Have. It." The boy repeated once more, slowly just to be sarcastic and hopefully get his point across, "You want to do a strip search? I don't have your necklace, I've never seen it before, and if I had, I wouldn't have taken it. I don't do girl stuff."

"My father gave that to me when I was a kid, it's not girl stuff!"

_"When you were a kid? So... a year ago?" _he commented to himself, but thought it best not to infuriate the boy anymore than he already had by doing absolutely nothing, "Alright, alright... chill." He suggested, sitting up and easily pushing the smaller one off.

Sora landed with a small _oof _next to the stranger and pouted and huffed like there was no tomorrow. He looked the silver-haired one up and down for a minute before speaking again, "Why are you dressed like that?" he demanded, more than asked.

"I told you, I just moved here." He repeated, running a hand once again through his hair.

"So where are you from? Why did you come here? Why'd you leave where you were? Did anyone come with you?"

An eyebrow quirked at the barrage of questions. They were given a moments thought before answered, "Arabia, family concerns, unwanted arranges, no."

_"Family concerns...unwanted arranges? Who is this boy?" _Figuring that was the next best course of action, Sora went with it, "Who are you?"

"My name is Riku."

"Riku?" the brunette echoed, "That's a Japanese name, I thought you said you were from Arabia."

"Adopted." Was the short, caution-ridden answer he gave. Whatever secrets he had hidden were meant to stay as such, and Sora certainly wasn't getting anymore information about that topic.

Sighing slightly, the blue-eyed boy stood up, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Uhh... sorry about knocking you over and everything." He muttered out, "I just didn't think there'd be more than one person around here dressed like you."

That statement caught Riku's attention as he glanced upwards, "There's someone else here dressed like me?"

A small nod confirmed that was what he had just said, and tilted his head as the taller one stood up, rather urgently, "Is...something wrong?" he wondered, then a spark of hope flooded his eyes, "Do you know who it is?"

Riku saw exactly where this was going and knew he had to nip this one in the bud. A simple 'no' elicited a slump of skinny shoulders as the messy-haired boy hung his head. Green and blue clashed once more as the two locked eyes. Sora opened his mouth to ask another question, but was cut off, "I need to go." The foreigner stated, turning his back to the slightly-confused one, "It was nice meeting you...Sora." With that, suspiciously like the necklace thief, Riku disappeared into the shadows of the alley and out of sight.

"Wha..." A dumbfounded Sora was left to think over his encounter. This Riku boy didn't seem like the robber. He certainly had a more comforting aura about him than the foreboding one he got chasing after the cloaked stranger. _"When I asked about where he'd come from, though," _Sora thought to himself, heading back home, _"he got that same air about him. Like I was messing with something I really shouldn't be, or getting involved in something way over my head." _He knew it was probably ridiculous and that it was just his imagination, but cold hard facts did leave one disturbing reminded lingering in the back of his mind, _"I never gave him my name."_

* * *

So, how was it? Hopefully not too bad. And a bit longer than most of my first chapters, so happy day. With college and all, I'm not sure how often I'll be able to update my fics, but I'm sure if I get enough encouragement, I'll get to it soon. So, with that said, thanks for reading! 


	2. Chapter 2

See, now, I told you all I'd be lazy with this. College, however, is finally over, so more updates to come. Enjoy!

kitsunedemon: XD, glad you liked it. Hope I can keep your interest, thanks for reviewing!

Katraa: Isn't he the cutest? Have to love a stubborn little brunette. Thanks for reviewing!

SoraSakura: Glad you liked it. , thanks for reviewing!

Sora could have expected that those two mysterious boys, if they were in fact two different people, would stay on his mind until he saw them again. Or, at least until he knew more about them. So, since school was conveniently out of session for summer break, he took to drilling the townspeople for information. However, they knew squat. Much to Sora's dismay, one person vaguely recalled seeing someone 'with a cape and hat' and another seemed to remember 'a young boy who stole a bunch of bananas from the corner store'. It was quite clear that neither of those were the cloaked thief he wanted, so he dejectedly turned to head home after a full day of searching and the sun setting. His thoughts were racing of how he could track down the boy. Not only did he want his necklace back, secretly he wanted to run into Riku again.

The silver-haired boy had a way about him that Sora found both intriguing and a little sexy. He wasn't one to go around crushing on all the guys, but there was no way he couldn't crush on Riku. As far as he was concerned (and what he could tell from their brief meeting), the older boy had it all: a sense of humor, looks, style, everything. All fantasies aside, Sora was determined to reclaim what was his, _"Who would want it, anyway?" _he wondered, _"It's just an old necklace, it's not worth anything." _Though, a little voice in the back of his head told him that the robber didn't want the necklace to pawn it off.

Suddenly, inspiration struck him. He remembered seeing the hooded boy leaving a house in town. Perhaps the person living there could tell him more. Excited that he might finally get to the bottom of this, Sora ran as fast as his short, little legs could carry him to the street he had chased the boy down the second night. It had all happened quickly, but the brunette was pretty sure he had come from the second house on the left. As he headed that way, though, he had second thoughts, _"What if this guy is like... the thief's accomplice or something and he sees me and tries to get rid of me before I find out his true identity?" _Logic reasoned in his head soon after, _"That wouldn't happen... it's not like I want to turn him in or anything, I just want my necklace back. What if he assumes I work for the police or something? I'm just a kid, he wouldn't think that. Ah! Shoulder angel and devil!" _Shaking his head of the conflicting thoughts, he approached the door and knocked gently; in fact, too gently. He could barely hear his knuckles rapping the wood and knew no one inside would be able to detect the sound. He knocked again, harder, and blinked in surprise as the door creaked open. Sora knew from experience every horror movie had a scene exactly like this, and it was probably best to turn and leave right now. Once again, he ignored that foreboding aura he felt and entered the small house.

Dust was visible in the light that flooded in through the windows from the street lamps, signifying that the place hadn't been cleaned in a long time. It struck Sora as odd that a place so unclean would have visitors let alone residents. He began to think perhaps he had the wrong house when something glinting caught his eye. He walked over to the small piece of silver that he'd noticed just on his way out and picked it up. Damn if it wasn't his necklace. A silver half moon where the points were connected with four small gems: a sapphire at the top, a ruby below that, an emerald next and an onyx stone resting right above the lower point of the moon. It all connected to form a perfect circle and hung from a thin silver chain.

_"What's this doing here?" _he wondered to himself, hooking it around his neck. Glancing around the main room, he saw that it didn't look like a home. There was no furniture, no pictures, nothing. There were only three doors, one being the front door and the other two, Sora guessed, a bedroom and a bathroom. Shrugging it off for the meantime, the brunette stood and left the house, still wondering about Riku and the necklace thief.

"Well?" a smooth voice demanded, confident and intimidating. It came from a man in his late thirties with short tan hair and glowing golden eyes mirrored with small, square glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose. He sat in a calm pose, seemingly unworried by any matter. His eyes held a certain knowledge in them, a wisdom far beyond even his years.

Before him stood a cloaked figure, down on one knee. His sword was unsheathed and held in one hand, resting on the ground. His head was bowed as he spoke in a soft voice, almost a whisper, "It was lost, sir."

"Lost?" the elder man asked, a chuckle sounding in his words, "How exactly did you 'lose' it?"

There was a momentary pause, a hesitation almost, before the other boy answered, "I...I dropped it, sir. He was onto me."

An eyebrow shot up at this, "I see..."

"Forgive me for my fault, sir, I will retrieve it."

"Hm..." A nod was given to the boy, "Then make sure you do it soon, Riku has already been in contact with him. If he finds out it belongs to the young one..."

"I will not fail." The boy stated, strong and determined.

The older man chuckled at how uptight the younger one was, but said nothing more as he exited the room. As he was left alone, a small frown crossed his features and he fell into a solemn state. He stood and made his way over to a window, looking out it and watching as the moonlight reflected over the neighboring ocean. A small hint of sadness glistened in his eyes, his hand raising to adjust the lenses slightly. He sighed softly and leaned against the windowsill, _"Boys..."_

"No...where is it?" A frantic boy looked around the small house, "I know I dropped it here." The cloaked form looked around in frustration. He sighed in annoyance, _"Who would have come in here? This place is abandoned, that's why he chose it. No one would..." _A gasp left his lips as he looked up and toward the door, _"Sora."_

I don't want to say too much about it, so I won't. Sorry it's so short, x-x. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up sooner, so review!


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry this took so long! I got distracted with things (cosplay cons) and fics got ignored... it was pure tragedy. Now college is starting back up, but oh well, onto the fic!

kitsunedemon: Who wouldn't crush on exotic Riku, ne? Yes, hopefully much more fun where this came from. Thanks for reviewing!

Katraa: Aw, don't like popcorn? I'm sure we can find some other snack to give you cavities. Candy! Ew... my fic reminds you of school? That can't be good. Oh well, hopefully it's not in a bad way (hoping) Thanks for reviewing!

Niccolo: I'll keep the divider thing in mind, thanks... and thanks for reviewing!

Supper: I'll try to get the next chappy up sooner, oddly, I think school gave me more concentration than being out. Weird, but whatever works. Thanks for reviewing!

Warning: I'm bringing Roxas in. I'm not his biggest fan, but he'll be necessary for some time. I'm just saying now that both Roxas fans and Roxas haters will love me and hate me at certain points in the story. So don't flame me, it'll all have a reason (hopefully)!

Another warning: Yes, there's a lemon in this chapter, but I didn't plan it, so I didn't put a note in last chapter. So, next chapter, I'll be sticking this under the M section, so look for it there. Enjoy!

* * *

Life had returned to as normal as possible for Sora after he had found his necklace. It had only been a couple days, but there had been no sightings of any cloaked mystery figures. Then again, the brunette wasn't sure that was all a good thing-- he hadn't seen anymore of Riku, either. He had just gotten to school and plopped down in his hard, plastic chair since the school board was way too cheap to spend any actual money on seats and was now pulling out the object of apparent interest.

It still didn't look like much to him. Perhaps the thief thought that the glistening red, green, blue, and black stones were real jewels. Sora had been told a while back that they were all fake, as real as they looked. _"That must have been it." _He realized, _"The thief snatched it, thinking it was real, then later realized the stones were fake and they just tossed it anywhere they could." _Satisfied with this answer, the small boy hooked the chain around his neck as more students piled into the room.

Sora was almost always the first one in class, just because he was always the first one up in the morning. With his boundless energy, it was no wonder that he didn't sleep long and was always so bright and cheerful in the morning. A voice behind him stirred him from his thoughts, "Early as usual?"

Sparkling blue eyes glanced back as a smile crept over his face at the blonde boy seated on the desk behind his, "Hey, Roxas." He greeted.

The other boy tilted his head and waved, "Hi, Sora." He offered in return. He slid into the seat next to the brunette's and glanced at him, "Got your necklace back?"

In return, the owner of said jewelry nodded, "Yeah, I found it in that abandoned house next to the gift store."

Nearly identical blue eyes blinked in surprise, "Really? Wonder why it was there?" Sora then explained his theory of mistaken riches, which seemed logical enough to Roxas, "Yeah." The slightly shorter agreed, "That makes sense." The nonchalant tone Roxas' voice carried showed that he had already lost interest in the conversation.

Sora had always wondered why, but Roxas couldn't keep his attention on anything very long unless it was something that truly interested him, _"Like that boy at the pizza place." _He added in his head, smirking at his friend's obvious crush on the brightly-haired teen. Moving on, the brunette tilted his head, "Hey, Roxas? Where'd you get that?"

"Huh?" came the oh-so intelligent reply.

Sora snickered at the other's obliviousness and pointed to the pendant around his neck, "That necklace." He explained.

"Oh, this thing?" blue eyes cast downward to look at it. It reminded Sora of his own necklace, as it was also a half moon, but while Sora's opened to the right, Roxas' opened to the left. Also, Sora's was silver, the blonde's necklace was made of what appeared to be gold. One other key difference Sora noted was that the line of four stones that made up his own were darker gems-- dark red, blue, green, and black stones-- but Roxas' were much lighter in color. In fact, his stones seemed to be lighter versions of Sora's; a stone that appeared to be made of aquamarine, one of a light pink color, though Sora couldn't place quite what it might be, another unknown stone of light green color, and a crystal to finish it off.

"Yeah, that thing." The brunette rolled his eyes.

A small pout adorned the other one's lips, "I got it from my grandmother, why?"

"Just wondering..." Sora looked up as more kids filed into the classroom. Kairi and Namine headed the stream of students, followed by Tidus, who was hand in hand with Selfie, a few more random kids that Sora didn't know quite as well, with Hayner bringing up the rear.

The students all took their seats and Tidus turned to the other blonde boy of the group, "So, Hayner, where's your boytoy?"

"I'm not his boytoy." A cocky voice sounded in the room. Seifer sauntered in and plopped down in his chair, hooking an arm around Hayner's waist and tugging him into his lap. A small, pink tongue came out to lick his cheek and the spiky-haired boy shifted in his boyfriend's lap. "He's mine." Seifer added.

Hayner sighed, but didn't complain. Not that complaining would do him any good; Seifer was too controlling to talk back to. He didn't miss Roxas averting his gaze at the couple and felt a small pang of regret wash through him. Of course, the short-haired boy noticed the whole thing and narrowed his eyes at the messy-haired one seated next to Sora. Seifer wrapped his arms possessively around Hayner's waist and nipped the base of his neck. When the uke of the two didn't respond to the affection, sharp nails dug into his thigh. Hayner shook off the wince and reflectively ran a hand through Seifer's hair. A satisfied smirk covered the punk's lips, but his victory was short-lived as the teacher made his way into the room just as the bell rang out. Seizing his opportunity, Hayner freed himself from his boyfriend's grasp and slid into his own seat.

Sora glanced to Roxas, noticing that he was trying to, but failing miserably at, ignoring the exchange between Hayner and Seifer. He was about to ask if his friend was alright when the teacher tapped on the blackboard and began speaking, commencing the lesson.

--

Lunch finally rolled around and teens filled the hallways, all chatting and making a huge clatter in general. Tidus drug Selfie to the lunch line and Kairi joined them with Namine, all discussing random things. Sora and Roxas took their places at their usual lunch table, waiting for the girls plus Tidus to return. The two always seemed to pack their lunch, Sora because he claimed his mother made the best packed lunches in the world, and Roxas because he was a vegetarian and didn't trust what the school called food.

The two started to quietly eat their lunches before Sora paused, glancing to his side, "Hey, Roxas?" he asked, swallowing a bite of food.

"Hm?" the blonde responded, signaling that he wasn't really paying attention to the brunette.

Sora sighed and poked his friend in the side, chuckling as he jumped a little, "I was talking to you."

"Oh.. sorry." The cheerful one grinned a goofy grin, "So... are you alright?"

"Huh? Why wouldn't I be?" A grin was reflected back at Sora, but it wasn't quite as happy and cheerful as the brunette's. It was fake and full of empty hope.

Sora smiled a more genuine smile at his friend, "I know that you're still upset over Hayner..."

"I'm not." Roxas cut him off, looking away, "It was his choice to go with Hayner."

"Still, he _did _ leave you for him." Sora knew that his friend didn't want to hear it, but he was living in a world where he could still hope that Hayner would grow a backbone and leave Seifer and come back to him. He sighed slightly at the blonde shaking his head, _"Roxas..."_

"Hey." Kairi greeted, slipping next to Sora. Namine mimicked the motion and took her seat next to Roxas while Selfie and Tidus plopped down on the other side of the table.

"Hey." Sora parroted, smiling and turning his attention back to the main point of lunch: his food.

Roxas nodded, but didn't show the enthusiasm his brown-haired friend did. Namine tilted her head, "Is something wrong, Roxas?" she asked, oblivious to the fact that he was still brooding over his ex.

"It's nothing." The blue-eyed boy assured his friends. They all knew when Roxas claimed something was nothing, that it was quite a lot. They also knew, from experience, the only one he would talk to about it was Hayner. Seeing as how the latter was now in Seifer's possession, that wouldn't happen. Namine frowned slightly at her crush being depressed, but figured the best thing she could do was to stay out of it for now.

"Alright." She said, softly, and turned back to her school-bought lunch. The rest traded glances and mutually agreed to move onto a new subject.

"So, Sora." Tidus spoke up, looking to the younger one.

"Yeah?" he wondered, trying to swallow another bite of precious food before conversation started back up, once again.

"You got your necklace back?"

Everyone immediately turned their attention to Sora's neck. Sure enough, his prized possession was hanging loosely around his tanned neck. "Oh." Selfie acknowledged, "I didn't know you lost it."

Sora sweatdropped before rubbing the back of his head, sheepishly, "Yeah, I found it in an abandoned house."

"How did you find it like that?" Kairi peeped.

"It was late last night and I saw something shining." He explained.

"So.. you just went into a random house because you saw something shiny?" Tidus snickered.

"Sora, you should be more responsible than that." The girl at his side lectured, like usual, "What if there was some mass murderer hiding in the shadows, just waiting for some kid to wander in so he can hack them to little bits?"

"Ew, Kairi, I'm trying to eat." Selfie whined, looking to her boyfriend, "Tidy-kun, make her stop."

The blonde in question sweatdropped at the request, "I don't think I can." He confessed, "And don't call me that."The brown-haired girl sighed in frustration and Kairi just giggled her apology.

Silence resumed over the teens as Roxas glanced out of the cafeteria and down the hall, _"Where's Hayner?" _

--

At that moment, Hayner was being shoved against a bathroom wall. As he and Seifer were making their way to the lunch room, the elder pulled him into a nearby bathroom. Hayner knew his intentions and just sighed as a _click _sounded, signifying that the door was now locked so no one would be able to interrupt them. Seifer proceeded to pin his boyfriend to the bathroom wall and run a hand up his shirt. Slender fingers ran across toned stomach muscles and the spiky-haired boy reflectively leaned into the touch, gasping slightly as the digits reached further up and dug into his chest. He closed his eyes as Seifer brought his nails down his chest, leaving small trails of blood to soak into his shirt. Hayner was just thankful he had worn a black shirt today, so the blood wouldn't be noticeable.

"Something wrong, love?" Seifer muttered, almost mockingly, into the younger one's ear. He moved his mouth close to Hayner's, brushing their lips together as his hand traveled up the latter's thigh.

"Nn... nothing." The dirty-blonde whispered, biting his lip at the moan rising from his throat as Seifer grabbed him hard. He had learned to accept the rough treatments the elder administered on a daily basis, and even find a bit of pleasure in the pain.

"Good." He purred into the other's ear, lapping at the soft skin of the tan neck. A smirk covered his lips as Hayner let out another soft groan, tugging the blue-eyed boy's head closer. In response, he received a quick bite to his collarbone and that same hand slowly massaging his member.

Hayner knew that Seifer was never one for foreplay, especially with how the first time they were together went, so it was no surprise to him when his elder tugged down the zipper to his cargo pants and watched as the clothing fell to the floor. If it had been closer to the beginning of their relationship, Hayner may have shifted away from the hungry gaze he was receiving. However, the two had been steady for a few months, and by now, the younger one was used to most everything he was subjected to now.

_"Roxas was never like this..." _He thought, closing his eyes as he was completely undressed and pinned to the wall once more.

"Such a nice body." Seifer noted, running a hand from Hayner's neck to his member, tracing his nails over the sensitive skin of his member. The latter's hips bucked slightly as he wrapped a think leg around his boyfriend's waist.

The brown-eyed boy leaned into the soft touches, rubbing his aching member against the other's clothed erection. Another zipper was heard and Seifer's own pants joined Hayner's on the floor. The older boy was pulled closer by that leg around his waist, as if his boytoy, as he called him, was asking for what was already predicted to happen. Very few things could stop Seifer when he wanted something, and this was no different.

"Glad you like it." Hayner whispered back, hooking his arms around the taller one's neck and supporting himself completely by wrapping both legs around the sturdy waist. It put him in perfect position for the sadist of the two to enter him roughly and quickly, sending a shooting pain up the younger one's spine. A yelp was cut short as their mouths clashed together forcefully and a quick motion was started of pounding into the smaller body.

Seifer groaned as the uke's muscles closed around him and grabbed his hips, pulling him down harder and thrusting in deeper to the younger boy. Hayner rested his forehead on his lover's shoulder and panted lightly, pushing back against the intrusion. An approving moan came from Hayner's throat as Seifer struck his prostate, sending waves of pleasure through his body to compliment the pain that was waving through him from the latter's nails dragging deep gashes into his arousal. A few more thrusts and the brown-eyed boy came into his boyfriend's hand, who moaned against Hayner's mouth as he released himself inside the messy-haired boy. Panting slightly, Seifer pulled out and yanked his pants up. He glanced at his hand, which was still covered in the other's cum, before presenting it to Hayner.

"Lick this up." He commanded, smirking as his boytoy did as he was told, wrinkling his nose slightly in distaste. "Good boy." A hand came down to ruffle the spiky hair and Seifer disappeared out the door after unlocking it, "Better get dressed." He suggested, the door swinging shut behind him as the bell to signal the end of lunch.

--

After school, the students filed out of the front door of the school. Tidus hooked an arm around Selphie's waist and grinned, waving a hand, "Later, guys, we've got a date at the movies."

A small blush covered the girl's face before she smiled and nodded, "Bye!"

Namine watched the two run off, before looking to Roxas, "Um.. so, Roxas." She said, softly, not sure if he heard her or not.

After a moment, the blonde boy responded. He looked up to the shy girl, "Yeah?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to..well..." she looked off to the side before linking her arms behind her back and smiling to him, "I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go out to get something to eat? I know you didn't eat a lot at lunch and well.."

"Sure." He interrupted her. Namine wasn't bad-- she was quiet, polite, and never judgmental about anything. She was pleasant, in a word, to talk to and be around.

"Really?" the smile widened just a little. A small nod and Roxas let a small smile grace his lips.

"Then let's go." He suggested, shrugging and walking down the road toward the beach. Namine winked to Kairi and followed behind; it might not be a date exactly, but she was glad just to be able to make Roxas happy.

The remaining girl giggled slightly and Sora shot up an eyebrow, "Did you have something to do with that?" he wondered.

Kairi gasped, dramatically, but the stare she got made her laugh again, "Well, maybe." She said in a sing song voice.

"Girls." Seifer muttered, looking to Hayner, "I'll see you later, love." A low chuckle and the punk of the group disappeared.

Hayner glared slightly after his retreating form, _"Love? Right." _In all honesty, he didn't love Seifer, either, and never fully understood why he let him use him like he did. He supposed he felt a connection with the slightly older boy-- though, didn't people usually have connections with their first lay?

"Hayner? You okay?" Sora wondered, slightly concerned about his friend. He wasn't nearly as close to Hayner as Roxas or Seifer were, but it didn't mean he didn't care.

"Of course I'm okay." a too-cocky grin spread over his face.

Sora didn't quite believe him and he and Kairi traded glances before the brunette smiled to his friend, "Well, if you're sure."

"I'm always sure." Hayner reminded him, before waving, "Hey, I'll see you guys tomorrow, alright?"

Sora and Kairi nodded in unison, "Alright." The former agreed.

"Later, Hayner!" Kairi waved as said boy turned and ran in the opposite direction of his boyfriend. "You really think he's okay?" she wondered, looking to the only remaining boy.

"I don't know." Sora answered honestly, "He seems to be alright, but he doesn't look as happy as he did when he was with Roxas."

"I know." She sighed, then brightened considerably, "Maybe we could get those two back together!"

Sora sweatdropped for the second time that day, "How? They broke up on their own."

"They broke up because Seifer... well..."

"I know..." he said, sighing, "but Hayner's with Seifer by choice."

"Kind of." Kairi inserted, "Seifer is pretty controlling and violent when he doesn't get his way."

"Still, Hayner _did _leave Roxas." Sora pointed out, "That was his choice. I just think we shouldn't interfere."

"Well, you do what you want." Kairi told him, spinning on her heel, "I'll do what I want."

Now left alone as his final friend walked off, Sora sighed once more and shook his head, chuckling. His friends were something else.

* * *

I'm stopping here for now because I think this is long enough. Next chapter will get back into the whole Sora Riku thing, a bit more about how Seifer is going to play more into the whole story, and a little more on Roxas (or more, his necklace). Hope you liked it, review! 


	4. Chapter 4

Howdy! Not much to say before the chapter... only that it took me a lot longer than I thought it would . I've been working on this for like.. three days. Oh well, enjoy!

catwwomen47: w00t! More slave- I mean loyal reviewers! (insert evil laugh) Don't worry, I'll be gentle. XD, thanks for reviewing!

kitsunedemon: XD, holy crap, the lemon was so completely random, too. Actually, the whole SeiferHayner thing was random. I just remember I was at my friends' house and I was writing this and I told her that I was putting SeiferHayner in, and she just gave me a weird look. Then I told her I was making Hayner, Seifer's bitch and she stopped talking to me XD. The necklaces will be playing a bigger role.. eventually... but knowing me, it'll be a year before I get around to anything. Thanks for reviewing!

Avacados are evil: No one can deny that Seifer being a sadistic bastard to Hayner is hot. XD, then again, Hayner in pain... yeah, that's hot, too. x-x, I'm just like that. Thanks for reviewing!

Katraa: Hayner won't play quite as big a part as Roxas will, but... hm, he'll still be rather important for a bit. College.. it's evil.. no, no it's worse than evil.. it's ebil! But it's all good... thanks for reviewing!

A/N: Ignore the OC using of Kai... I forgot I stuck him in here and now x-x, I'm keeping him because I love him. Hopefully you won't hate him like I know most people do with other's OCs... everyone else I know loves him XD! That's all.

* * *

"Crap, he's catching up!"_ a spiky-haired boy thought as he raced down an alley. He turned a corner and nearly ran straight into a wall that hadn't been there in the daylight, _"What's going on?"_ He looked around, now panicked. Someone was chasing him; he didn't know who, but he knew he had to get away. Footsteps echoed from all around him so much to the point that he couldn't tell where they were coming from. Sora panted slightly as he skid around another corner and paused, listening for his pursuer. When he heard only silence, he frowned, _"Did they give up?"_ Whatever they were doing, it was quiet and it disturbed Sora more than the footsteps following him. Slowing his pace to a cautious walk, blue eyes scanned the area and finding nothing out of the ordinary. He passed under a walkway that connected the two building on either side of him and as he stepped out into the moonlight, he saw a figure a few meters in front of him. He blinked a few times, "Seifer?" he asked. Was that who had been chasing him._

_The blonde glanced up before smirking, "Well, if it isn't Chicken Wuss' better half."_

_Sora just sighed at the nickname Seifer had given Roxas, "Were you the one chasing me?"_

_"Chasing you? No, that's Nise."_

_"Nise? Who's that?" Sora wondered, never having heard the name before, _"It's Japanese, though."_ He recalled, _"It means...an imitation?"

_Seifer pointed behind the brunette and Sora only had time to turn around before he saw a figure doused in clothes rushing toward him. A glint of metal was the last thing he saw before the body made contact with his. The knife came down, swiping across the young boy's neck. Sora closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the pain of being killed to come, but when it didn't he snapped his blue orbs back open. He saw that the mysterious boy's target had been the thing around his neck as the chain was sliced and the necklace came flying off as Sora went tumbling backwards. The thief once again grabbed his prized possession and darted off into the night, Seifer_'_s low chuckle sounding through the alley walls._

_**End dream**_

Sora woke up, lightly drenched in a cold sweat. He immediately grabbed around his neck to assure himself that his necklace was still there. Sure enough, the small half moon was dangling around his neck, swinging back and forth slightly as the boy moved to sit up and let his covers pool around his waist. He swung the window by his bed open and gazed out over the town, much of which was darkened. Only the moon and a few house lights illuminated the streets and Sora could conclude without glancing at the clock that it was in the early hours of the morning.

He sighed to himself and pushed the covers completely off, heading to the bathroom to splash a blast of cold water in his face. That was supposed to wake you up and calm you down, right? It, however, only made Sora want to close his eyes again and curl back up in his nice, warm bed. Sighing, he looked at himself in the mirror before grinning a goofy grin, "Nise, huh?" he asked no one, "Well, whoever it is, I don't know him." He decided that was good enough and stretched, _"Besides, it's the weekend and the weekend is no time for thinking!" _With that said, or rather thought, the brunette walked out of the bathroom with a slight bounce in his step.

--

"You'll retrieve it today." It wasn't a question, but an order.

"Yes, sir." The cloaked jewel thief nodded. He had screwed up by losing the necklace after so craftily stealing it.

"Good, then go." The man ordered, his tan tresses of hair ruffling slightly as he shook his head.

"Just, one thing, sir." The light-haired boy hesitated as golden eyes looked down on him, waiting for him to continue, "What about the other one?"

"You mean Roxas." The elder man sighed, "Leave him for now."

"Sir, is that really wise?" the boy asked, "If Riku reaches him..."

"Do you not trust my judgment about my own son?"

The younger one froze; everyone knew better than to question Kai about his children, "Of course not, sir." He muttered.

Kai chuckled slightly, "Don't worry." He said softly, "Everything will work out and you'll get your reward." He waved a hand, "Now go." Without another word, the boy nodded and jumped up to a high window, disappearing quickly from sight.

As soon as he was out of earshot, another figure emerged from the darkness behind Kai, "So, he's going after Sora?"

Golden eyes blinked as they glanced back, "Yes, what are you doing here so suddenly? I thought you'd be with Hayner."

Seifer chuckled, "No, not at all." He shook his head, "He ran off right after school."

Kai sighed, "Don't tell me you screwed him again in school."

The blonde chuckled, "Yeah, but I locked the door this time."

The elder shook his head once more, "Seifer..."

"Ugh, yeah, yeah..." he mumbled, "I won't do it again..."

"You're going to drive him away." The wiser of the two advised, "If he escapes, we have nothing to keep Roxas at bay with."

"You know," Seifer began, leaning against the wall next to the throne his superior was seated in, "you shouldn't talk so bad about your kid." He chuckled.

Kai just rolled his eyes, "Go make nice with Hayner." He ordered, "We're close now, we can't afford to screw up and chase them away."

"Yes, _sir_." The younger replied, mockingly, snickering and ducking the hand that was swung at his head. Waving a hand, the teen walked out the door, pulling it shut with a _click_.

--

"Hayner!"

Said boy turned around, blinking and quickly looking down when he saw who had called his name. "Yeah?" he muttered, wanting to be near anyone other than who he was.

Seifer frowned slightly at the attitude, _"Maybe he's right.. ugh, if I have to play Mr. Nice-mushy-caring boyfriend much longer..." _He sighed and wrapped his arms around the younger one, rolling his eyes as the body next to his tensed, "Relax." He whispered into the other's ear.

"What do you want?" Hayner asked, glancing to his boyfriend. Though, Seifer rarely wanted anything other than a quick screw.

The taller boy kissed his uke's cheek and ran a hand through the spiky hair, "Well, you ran off so suddenly earlier..." he began, tilting Hayner's face up to meet his and flashing a look of concern in his eyes, "Are you okay?"

The emotion in his voice was hard to fake, and the younger one was just naive enough to believe the words being uttered. A soft blush covered the teen's cheeks as he nodded, glancing away once more, "Fine."

"Are you sure?" Seifer pressed on, inwardly sighing in annoyance at his outward display. It was really sickening to him, but whatever was necessary. "You're looking away a lot." He closed his eyes for a brief moment, mentally preparing himself for his next words, "Sorry if I've been taking advantage of you a bit, lately."

The blush grew just that much more at the sweet words. He knew Seifer well enough, at least he thought he did, and he knew that he could never mean any of this seriously. With great difficulty, he shook his head, "Stop." He muttered in a low voice, "You can't mean that, so don't say it."

"Would I lie to you?" he countered, looking as serious as he could while screaming a resounding 'yes' in his head.

"Why wouldn't you?" he wondered, disbelieving.

"Have I ever before?" Seifer asked, licking his boyfriend's cheek and whispering in his ear, "I've never told anything but the truth." He reminded the younger one, _"Or at least as far as you know." _

"Well... I suppose so..." Hayner spoke slowly, racking his brain for anytime Seifer had deceived him. He couldn't place a single time in his memory, though. The older blonde might treat him badly at times, but he had been as honest as could be. Even though, that in itself was suspicious. Seifer didn't have an honest attitude or a true personality. He was, in every sense of the word, a thug. He dressed like one, talked like one, acted like one. Hayner sighed softly, casting his gaze to the ground, _"But he's never done anything mistrusting." _He argued in his head, _"Maybe he's just like that for a reason?" _Everyone had reasons for doing things, so maybe Seifer was only kind to those who he deemed worthy of getting close. Besides, Hayner wanted to believe the person he'd given his body to, if not at least part of his heart.

"Then there's no problem." Seifer concluded, hoping that he could be done with this act for the day. When Hayner nodded silently, the older boy offered a small smile, "Good." He waved a hand, "I'll see you later, then." Before Hayner had a real chance to react, Seifer was gone from sight.

"Yeah." The lone boy whispered, still mingling with doubt in his heart, "No problem at all."

--

_"Let's see.. Tidus and Selfie will probably be at the ice cream shop, Wakka will probably be at the beach...Namine and Kairi are most likely shopping. Wonder what Roxas is up to today." _Sora thought as he strolled through town.

"Hey, kid!" he heard someone call from behind him, though he didn't recognize the voice.

Turning around, pouting in an attempt to glare, Sora complained, "I'm not a kid!" He blinked as he saw a silver-haired boy running up to him. _"It's that boy again... so I guess he does live around here."_

Riku approached the brunette and stopped, small beads of sweat lacing his brow as a sign that he'd been running for a while. Unlike last time, Riku was now dressed in more modern clothes consisting of a pair of ripped blue jeans that hung loosely off his hips and a blue and black vest that remained unbuttoned to show off his finely tuned stomach and chest. Sora stared for a moment before forcing himself to drag his gaze up to the older one's face. Once their eyes locked, though, he found that this sight wasn't so bad, either.

"Well, it's not like I know your name." Riku told him, interrupting his thoughts, "You never told me, remember?"

Sora flashed back to their first encounter and confirmed that he hadn't given him his name, indeed. However, "You still called me 'Sora'." He accused, turning his attention back to the sex-go-- boy. Yes, boy. Just like him. No, not like him-- better-- but still a boy.

The sex-god-just-like-Sora-boy thing coughed and rubbed his head sheepishly, "Well, I didn't want to call you just 'kid' and the first thing that came to mind when I looked at your eyes was the sky..." That was a good excuse, right?

The sky-eyed boy blinked as a faint rose color spread over his cheeks. Riku had been paying that much attention to him? Ignoring the obvious horrible excuse, Sora nodded, "I guess that makes sense." He agreed, even though logic would tell him it did no such thing, "So... did you want something?"

"Huh?" For all the intelligence his eyes held, Riku seemed dumbfounded at the moment until he realized he had stopped Sora to talk to him. "Oh, right. Well, the truth is..." he trailed off, running a fingerless-gloved hand through soft tresses of hair, "No, not really." He finally answered.

Those sky-inspired orbs glanced up, "So you just...stopped me for no reason?" he asked, confused. Usually when one stopped you, it was for a reason. Especially if that one didn't know you well and had only met you once.

"Kind of." The sea-green-eyed boy muttered, then an idea struck. "Though, you know..."

"Huh?" He asked, once more confused. This Riku boy really liked to trail off and make little to no sense.

"I am kind of new here." He continued, tilting his head and flashing Sora a knee-quivering smile, "Care to show me around a bit?"

One blink. Two blinks. Three blinks. Yes, Sora was once again confused. Why would a se-... _cute _boy like Riku want the small, little, midget brunette to show him around? Yes, Riku was cute; it was alright to think he was cute, right? Not like Sora was uncomfortable with his sexuality or anything, but every time the word 'sex-god' came to mind he couldn't help but stare for unnecessary long periods of time and blush furiously. He was sure that would raise questions that he didn't have answers for.

That was about the time the blue-eyed boy realized he hadn't said a thing, "Oh, sure." He agreed, having been too distracted by his thoughts to remember quite what he was agreeing to. Right, showing Riku around town. That wouldn't be too hard, and it might even get his mind off that delectable skin that the silver-haired boy was showing.

An eyebrow quirked as Riku chuckled, "Well, whenever you're ready."

"Okay." Sora agreed again, _"What is there to do here? Well, it's an island, so..." _The shorter one looked up, "Want to go swimming?" Swimming. Genius, Sora, absolutely genius. Why did he think swimming would be a good idea, again? So Riku could see his non-sex-god body? Crushing 101: _Don't _get naked in front of the boy you like _until _he likes you back.

"I'm from Egypt." Riku reminded the boy, "I've never been swimming." Ha, he was saved! "But you think you could teach me?" He was ruined. Now, not only did he have to basically strip in front of the boy, but he'd probably be in close quarters with the cute-- yes, cute-- boy.

"Oh...yeah, okay." After a moment's hesitation, Sora beamed at the older boy, "So, let's go!" He was suddenly hyper, though he wasn't sure why. Before Riku could even laugh, he was being drug down to the beaches.

* * *

The writing was kind of... weird throughout the latter part of the chapter, I think. A bit more.. Sora-ish than anything, if that makes sense. Kind of childish writing, to me, anyway. But it just kind of happened. Perhaps it's the effect of writing Sora's personality XD. Next chapter... all I know is we'll get to see Riku attempt to swim (and probably fail horribly while still looking awesome). Hm...a bit more with Hayner, Seifer, and Roxas... and anything else you want! See? This is how cheap I am.. give me ideas! XDD, I'll shut up now. Review! 


	5. Chapter 5

(pokes head out from hiding place) Am I still allowed here? Sorry I haven't updated. I have no excuse other than...well...I kind of forgot about this fic? (runs for cover) Sorry! Enjoy!

Magnix: XD, yes, I kind of like that pairing, I'm just not sure why.. it seems like it'd be a crack pairing. Oh well, thanks for reviewing!

Avacados are evil: Aww, poor you, your hope for Seifer was shattered. It was good while it lasted? For the...two chapters it did...XDD, and I had fun with that debate.. poor dirty-minded-yet-completely-naive-and-innocent Sora. Thanks for reviewing!

Katraa: Sora and Riku half naked and wet is a nice thought. XDDDDDD, and yes, actually, his full name -is- Nisemono... well, that's the only name he'll give anyway. Thanks for reviewing!

* * *

"Come on, Riku, it isn't that bad!" Sora shouted to the silver-haired boy. He had, after great difficulty, convinced Riku to change into swimming trunks. The foreign boy was suspicious of the clothing, but after Sora put his own on, he obliged. Now the brunette was in the water and his swimming partner was staring at the water in distaste.

"It's cold," Riku stated, dipping his foot in the water before retrieving it once more and shaking the droplets of liquid off.

"Well, it _is _the ocean, it's not going to be like a hot tub." Sighing when the green-eyed boy made no move to venture into the water, Sora waded out and joined him on the shore, "You said you wanted to learn how to swim. You can't do that without getting wet."

"Then I changed my mind." At Sora's distraught look, Riku shrugged, "I'm from Egypt, what do you expect?"

"Yeah, alright," the messy-haired boy agreed.

Seeing the down-trodden face, Riku inwardly groaned. He looked out to the ocean, back to Sora, and to the water once more. In the blink of an eye, he grabbed the tanned wrist and pulled the younger boy back toward the murky depths. _"Cold...cold!" _Riku thought, shivering as his body collided with the arctic chill.

Sora blinked and followed after him, sweatdropping, "Riku?"

"Yes?" He knew he was shivering, but he really couldn't help it.

"You realize you're only in to your ankles." Sure enough, the rush into the great body of water stopped moments after he submerged part of his body.

"But it's so cold," he complained, "How is this fun?"

"Maybe you just need to get used to it. Stay here for a minute, I'll go get something to help you out." With that said, Sora headed back out of the ocean and across the beach, looking around for a shop that sold kid's floaties.

"Wha...Sora!" Riku called after him, feeling very alone and very foolish, standing still in a few inches of water like it was cement. He twisted his body around to watch the boy walk off, but his legs stayed stiff as could be.

"I'll be back in a minute!"

The silver-haired boy sighed and surveyed the beach. There were plenty of people out, mostly teenagers and children in the water while the adults preferred lounging out on the beach. Everyone was clad in bathing suits or equally revealing and cool clothing. Everyone except one person. A small frown tugged at Riku's lips as a figure, dressed head to toe in robes moved lithely through the patrons of the beach. His head and face were covered by cloth, but Riku could tell that the person was from his area of Egypt. In fact, the clothes were mysteriously exactly like his.

"Sora!"

The brunette spun around, not noticing the advancing form, "I said stay there, Riku, I'll be back in a minute!" He barely got 'minute' out before the person reached him. Riku watched in horror as the robed boy (he assumed it was a boy) clamped a hand over Sora's mouth and picked the much smaller body up easily. The blue-eyed boy's shouts of surprise were muffled and he was too far away from the rest of the patrons to be noticed. Riku dashed toward the pair, but no sooner had he splashed out of the water than the mystery man and his new friend disappeared by some conveniently-placed rocks.

Riku skidded to a stop and looked around, but to no avail. The two had disappeared, "Sora!" he called, though knew that it was futile. Whoever that person had been, he had followed Riku there. _"What does he want with Sora, though?" _he wondered, frowning. He didn't know who to go to for help, seeing as how he knew no one on the island. Blinking, the silver-haired boy suddenly remembered something, _"The first time we met... Sora was complaining that I stole his necklace... is that what the person is after?" _If it was only a necklace, then perhaps Sora would return unharmed. He'd tell himself that, anyway, since otherwise he was completely useless.

---

"Roxas." The voice startled the blonde, who had assumed he was alone. He had entered his and his friend's hangout, and at seeing no one perched on a table or lounging in a seat, figured that the rest were out. It was the weekend, after all.

Spinning around, the messy-haired boy scanned the small spot where they all occasionally gathered to talk and eat sea salt ice cream. However, no one seemed to be there, "Hello?" he asked, warily. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but had a different sound about it than usual.

"Over here," Seifer said, raising a hand to signal his position on a certain table that had been unoccupied moments ago.

Roxas blinked before shrugging and plopping down in a seat across from him, "Something you want?" he asked, sounding much colder and more distant than he did with anyone else.

The older boy chuckled and hopped off the table, striding over to him, "You shouldn't be so cold, I mean.. we're as close as brothers, aren't we?"

Blue eyes stared at the grinning teenager, "No," he dead-panned, "Now leave me alone."

Seifer sighed and sat on the arm of Roxas' chair, "You know, if you'd just give him that necklace..."

"No," he stated again, firmly, "You think I don't know what will happen?"

"So what if someone dies? It'll be for the best."

"I won't do it, if we have to die, then so be it, but I won't let an innocent boy die because of it." Roxas looked up to lock his cold gaze with Seifer's.

"You know the old man won't stand for that," he said offhandedly, "He'd never let his kids die, everyone else be damned. He's always been that way."

"It's why I don't talk to him," the younger of the two explained quietly, "He's selfish."

"And you're not? You want so badly to save that brat that you'll risk killing yourself and me."

Roxas frowned, mostly because what his older brother (yes, they were indeed brothers, though you'd never be able to tell by how they acted) was saying was true. He shook his head, "It's better than having him die."

Seifer growled in the back of his throat and stood up, "Too damn bad, Nise is already after him. And once he gets the kid, it'll be all over."

The messy-haired boy looked up, alarmed, "He has Sora?"

This time, the older boy grinned and stood up, "Yup, and if you want to help him, you'll come home." With that said, Seifer turned to leave, "Later, dear baby brother."

Clear blue eyes watched after the teen as he made his exit. Finally alone, Roxas frowned to himself. He now not only had Sora to worry about, but someone else dear to him could be hurt badly by this, too. _"I knew he was only keeping Hayner around to get to me and make me cooperate... but now that he has Sora..." _Suddenly, the blonde stood up and strode out quickly. He wasn't sure where Hayner was, but he knew he needed to get to him before Seifer did.

---

_"Where...am I?" _Sora groggily opened his piercing blue eyes and looked around the darkened room. He couldn't see much other than what appeared to be a throne-like chair in the middle of a large room. A long, velvet, red carpet reached from the lone chair to a pair of what looked to be thick, heavy, wooden double doors. On the far side of the room, a large window looked out over the ocean, but there was nothing else in sight other than blue water as far as the eye could see. The fading light from the sunset was all that lit the room up, and just as the brunette thought that it would be incredibly difficult to see once it set completely, fire erupted in lanterns all around the room.

Sora jumped a little as the large doors swung open to reveal a man in his late thirties or early forties with short tan hair and golden eyes. The sun reflected off his glasses at just the right angle to make the color stand out so much that it seemed his eyes were nearly glowing. The man gave such an air of superiority and power that the young boy unconsciously shifted away from him as soon as he took in his full appearance.

After a moment of heavy silence, the elder of the two finally spoke, "Running away already?" he chuckled, "We haven't even made our introductions."

Blue eyes scanned the built stranger warily, but not wanting to be rude, Sora slowly stood up and even more slowly made his way over to the man, nodding ever so slightly, "I'm Sora."

The tan-haired stranger grasped his hand in his own when it was offered, a firm yet gentle shake as he surveyed the boy, "Kai, a pleasure to meet you, Sora-kun."

"You, too..." Sora quickly shoved his hands in his pocket, not wanting to give this so-called Kai another chance to touch him. He hadn't been rude or violent as of yet, but he looked like he had the ability to be both very well. Or perhaps it was the way he carried himself, cocky and relaxed, as if nothing posed a threat to him in his domain (which is where Sora assumed he was). Whatever it was, it put the young boy on edge.

"You seem...nervous." Kai's gaze flicked to the other one as he uttered the last word, his still-glowing eyes (maybe it _wasn't _from the sun) sending a chill down Sora's spine.

"Well, I was kidnaped and knocked out," the brunette offered.

An eyebrow quirked at this, "Really, now... well, I certainly didn't mean for that to happen."

"So...you're the one that told that person to come and take me?" he asked, timidly, wondering what could be so special about boring, old him.

"Something like that. Actually, I only requested an item you possess, though, I will have further use for you later on."

"An item I...my necklace!" It was the only thing Sora had that had ever been brought to his attention. It had been stolen once before, and the boy that took it looked suspiciously like the one that had taken him earlier that day.

Kai chuckled as the brunette clutched around his neck to find the piece of jewelry missing. He held it up, dangling by its chain, swinging it back and forth at a leisurely pace, "No worries, I'll take good care of it."

"Give it back!" the brunette demanded, a pout full and ready on his lips, "My father gave that to me."

"Your father, eh?" he asked, feigning curiosity, _"Well, that proves it, he's the one." _

"Yes, so give it back."

Kai looked the boy up and down before tilting his head, "Tell me, what was your father's name?"

"Wha...why do you care?" Sora regarded the man carefully. He still wasn't sure about his intentions with him, and why did he want to know about his father all of a sudden?

"He was American, correct? And your mother Japanese?"

"How do you know so much about my family?" he asked, frowning at the lack of response he was getting.

"Your father's name.. was it Jack Stanton?"

"Answer me!" Silence filled the large room after the younger one's outburst.

Kai chuckled again, and for the first time, Sora took notice that he had a southern twinge to his voice. It was faint, but still very noticeable if you were listening for it. "Perhaps I should fully introduce myself," he said, "My name is Kai Stanton, and I'm your uncle."

---

_"Damn it, Hayner, where are you?" _Roxas asked in his head, frowning as he ran through the town that they all knew as home. He ran past shops and buildings, houses and stands. He'd checked all the places he could think of, and even passed by their school. All to no avail. Finally, he slowed to a walk and headed back to Hayner's house once more. Perhaps he'd just gone out for a bit and was home now. Or perhaps he was with Seifer. He was sure the latter option would lead to no good, and prayed that his ex and friend would open the door when he knocked.

_**Knock...knock...knock...**_

Nothing. Roxas sighed and turned, for the fourth time that day, away from the townhouse. He blinked and looked up to see the boy he had been in pursuit for standing in front of him. A small frown tugged at his lips as he saw the distraught look on his ex's face and the tears glistening down his cheeks. He was too late. Shaking his head, Roxas walked up to him and wrapped his arms around him in a hug. Hayner stayed still for a moment, stiff as a board and staring off into space before he registered that something was happening. He slowly looked to the blonde and returned the hug, feeling numb down to the very core.

"I'm sorry." Roxas blinked again as the two words were uttered, a choked sob being held back as more tears threatened to spill from his eyes. Hayner had never been this vulnerable before, and Roxas realized then that he must have truly loved Seifer.

"It's okay, don't be sorry... it's not your fault," the younger boy muttered, resting his head on the taller boy's shoulder.

"I didn't mean to be so weak."

"You're not weak, you can't help what your heart feels, right?"

"I don't want to do this."

The last statement confused the blue-eyed boy somewhat, "Do...what? Hayner?" Roxas frowned more, if possible, when the only response he got was a shaking head and more tears.

"I'm...so sorry, Roxas..." he repeated, shifting slightly and pulling something from his waistband, "I don't want to do this...but he'll leave me if I don't... I didn't mean to be so weak..."

Blue eyes widened as he realized what was pressed against his temple. A gun. Hayner had a gun and he was aiming it right at his friend's head. "Hayner, what... what are you doing?"

"He told me to get the necklace... by any means necessary... he said he'd die if I didn't... that you both would... I cant let you both die, you two mean everything to me."

Roxas then understood everything. Seifer hadn't dumped Hayner, he'd used him yet again. Instead of just casting the boy aside, he'd given him once last chance at redemption.

_Flashback_

_"Hayner... yo, Hayner!"_

_"Huh?" Said boy looked up to see his boyfriend running up to him. He tilted his head as Seifer reached him, crossing his arms and looking at him as if trying to decide what to say next. "What's up?" he asked, casually, when the elder of the couple said nothing._

_"We've got a problem, a big one," the punk stated, taking a seat next to his screw._

_"Is everything okay?" Hayner frowned slightly-- Seifer was never this serious about anything._

_Sure enough, a beanie-clad head shook a negative, "Not at all. I need you to do something for me, you can't question it or two people very important to you are going to die."_

_"What do you mean?" Even when Seifer was serious, he was never _this _serious. It was very out of character for him, and very scary._

_"I figured I'd have to explain it to you sooner or later... I'm surprised Roxas never did."_

_"What? Roxas? What does he have to do with anything?"_

_Two sets of blue eyes met, "You know that necklace he always carries around, right? That he says he got from his grandparents?"_

_"Yeah, he loves that old thing, never lets go of it." Hayner tilted his head to the side, "What about it?"_

_"It's part of a set." To emphasize his point, two fingers were stuck up in the air, "There's another one like it, and if put together with the right accessories, they can lift a curse."_

_"A...curse?" The younger boy sweatdropped, "Seifer, love? Are you... feeling alright?" He blinked as his boyfriend tugged him into his lap and wrapped his arms around him possessively._

_"Hayner," he muttered in a low voice, "I'm very serious about this, it's not a joke. There's a curse on me and my brother, if it's not lifted soon, we'll both die."_

_"Your brother?" Hayner thought he knew the other boy fairly well, yet never heard a thing about any brother._

_"Honestly," Seifer sighed, "Yes, my brother, Roxas."_

_"Wha...but... Roxas can't be your brother.. you have two different last names."_

_"Fake," the elder explained, "Both of them."_

_"Why? How?...Why?" This was a lot of information to take in and Seifer was feeling slightly dizzy with all that had happened so suddenly._

_"Our father works in social services, so easily. And why? So Sora wouldn't figure anything out, it wasn't time for him to know yet."_

_"Sora? What does _he _have to do with it?" Did everyone he know have some part in this thing?_

_"He's our cousin, and also the holder of the other half of the emblem," Seifer explained, idly running a hand through dirty-blonde locks of hair._

_"So... what do you need me to do?" As fascinating as all of this was, Hayner couldn't ignore that fact that Seifer had mentioned both himself and Roxas might die._

_"I need you to get that necklace from Roxas."_

_"Or else you'll both die," the younger one concluded._

_"Yes."_

_"...love?"_

_Seifer quirked an eyebrow, "Yes?"_

_"Why wouldn't Roxas just hand over the necklace if he knew all of this?"_

_Well, Seifer be damned, his boyfriend had a functioning brain. He cursed to himself before kissing his uke's temple, "Because he's afraid if we do this, someone else will die."_

_"So... he'd sacrifice you and himself for some other person?" Hayner knew his ex was generous, but that was a bit above and beyond._

_"Basically."_

_"Wait...who's this other person?" Hayner didn't know how close he was to setting his love off with all these invasive questions._

_"It's Sora." No use in lying now, "But he's misinformed. Our father wouldn't let any of his family die, I'm confident he'll find another way." Well, no use in lying _much.

_Hayner, ever the believer, nodded slightly, "So...I just have to get the necklace from him."_

_"Yeah," the shorter-haired boy agreed, quickly placing something in the other's hands._

_The younger boy blinked and looked down at the gun, "What...?"_

_"By any means necessary," he answered the obvious question._

_"But...I can't kill him!"_

_The panicked boy was calmed slightly by a kiss, "No, but if it comes down to it... if you don't kill him, you'll lose us both. Is that what you want?"_

_"..." Hayner bowed his head, silently shaking it 'no' and closing his eyes. This wasn't fair of Seifer to ask it of him, why did _he _have to do it?_

_"I'm only asking you because I think you'll be able to convince him without doing him any harm," he lied. He honestly didn't care what happened to the blonde brat, but this _was _the easiest way, and it would keep his father happy. Kai upset was never a good thing._

_"Y-yeah," he managed, biting back incoming tears that threatened to spill. Even the thought of harming Roxas made him sick to his stomach._

_"I think you can do this, I wouldn't have asked anyone else." Those few (false) words of confidence seemed to motivate Hayner to slide off his boyfriend's lap and stand up, nodding._

_"I...I'll get it..."_

_"Good," Seifer stood as well, placing a quick kiss on trembling lips, "I'll be waiting near the school when you're finished." Another nod and Hayner slowly walked off, as if in a trance. Once he was gone, another figure emerged from the shadows behind Seifer. The blonde glanced back to see a robed figure join him, "Go after him," he ordered, "Make sure he gets the job done."_

_"I don't take orders from you, you know," the mystery boy scowled._

_"You do if you want to keep father happy, and you do if you want this plan to work," the teen reminded him._

_The cloaked figured sighed, "Yeah, yeah... bossy brat," he muttered before dashing off after Hayner._

_Seifer simply rolled his eyes, _"Well, I guess this means Sora's back with father," _he thought, _"Might as well see what fun's going down with them."

_End Flashback_

"Hayner... I know you're scared of losing us... but if I knew that Sora died instead because I wanted to live..."

"Your father will find another way," Hayner spoke up, desperately, "Seifer told me he would, he said he wouldn't let any of you die."

"Seifer's lying." Roxas shook his head, "Kai doesn't care about Sora, he doesn't even care about me."

"He's doing all of this _for _you."

"He's doing it for himself!" Roxas snapped. Both were stunned by the outburst, and the one who had caused it sighed, "He hated my grandfather and he hated Sora's father, he wouldn't care what happened to Sora at all, and is readily willing to sacrifice him in order to make this work."

"Why does anyone have to be sacrificed?" Of course, that answer was obvious, but still, Hayner had yet to find out the exact details.

"It's all part of a ritual to break the curse. One of us, either Sora or I, have to be sacrificed in order to completely return the emblem to its original state. If the curse isn't broken by midnight tomorrow, then the curse will take full effect and..."

"And you and Seifer will die," Hayner finished for him.

"Our whole bloodline will die," Roxas corrected.

"Your whole...so... Sora, you, Seifer..."

"And Kai." The elder boy now understood what Roxas had meant when he said Kai was doing this for himself. He didn't want to die, everyone else be damned. "He might care about Seifer, but other than that, he's the only one he's concerned with saving."

"I don't understand, though... if Sora will die either way, why are you so against this? Wouldn't it be better for only one of you to have to die instead of all of you?"

"No, no one has to die." The way the messy-haired boy stated it, there was no doubt in his mind that it was absolutely true.

"How?"

"Kai's a stubborn bastard, I'm sure he's got some little trick up his sleeve to break this curse incase things don't pan out how he wants."

"Then why wouldn't he-"

"Just do that to being with?" Hayner nodded, confirming that was indeed his question. "He wants Sora gone. He despised his brother more than anything and this way, he can justify getting rid of him and come out as the good guy who had to make such a hard decision." Roxas nearly sneered at this last part, as if the thought of Kai being _good _in any sense of the world was absolutely ridiculous.

"And so he wants to get rid of his kid," Hayner shook his head, "That's so messed up... why does he hate his brother so much?"

"I don't know for sure, all I know is it has something to do with our grandfather. I'm sure Seifer would know more about it."

Hayner sighed as the gun clattered to the ground, _"I can't do it...I knew I couldn't... I could never hurt Roxas, not for something like this."_ A sharp yelp cut through the night air as a bang went off. For a moment, Hayner panicked and thought his gun had gone off when he dropped it. He looked down to see it lying there, cold and still as ever. That, however, didn't explain the now-bleeding hole in his shoulder.

"Hayner!" Roxas shouted, alarmed and looking around for the shooter.

He didn't have to look far as the tracker Seifer had sent emerged from his hiding place in the shadows, making a tsking sound, "You should have listened," he chided, "Kai-sama needs that necklace, and I'm not letting a Chicken Shit like _you _get in my way."

_"Chicken _Shit_?" _Hayner thought, sweatdropping, "You've been around Seifer too long."

The cloaked boy shrugged, "I like mine better, Chicken Wuss is too... PG."

"Who are you?" Roxas demanded, frowning as Hayner clutched at the wound.

"I go by many names, which one would you like?"

"Your real one," the messy-haired boy suggested.

"Well, I don't feel like you giving you my real name. So just call me Nise."

"Nise?" Roxas repeated. He vaguely remembered Sora mentioning that name from one of his dreams. "You're working for my father, aren't you?"

"Not quite," Nise chuckled, slipping back into the shadows, "I'm more of a..." he emerged again, this time directly behind the necklace-clad blonde. Hayner screaming Roxas' name nearly blocked out Nise's quiet whisper of 'lone wolf' before everything went dark.

* * *

And the plot thickens. So now Sora has an uncle that's after him and his necklace. And if you were paying attention, Seifer and Roxas are brothers, and both Kai's sons, so that would make them and Sora.. (gasp) cousins! Well, I'm...fairly satisfied with this chapter, and it's long enough so I think it'll suffice for at least a couple of the months that I missed. And what will happen now? (dramatic music) This fic...really picked up into full swing in this chapter, didn't it? Hope that wasn't too much of an information overload, and I also hope it doesn't seem too rushed. Things...well, they won't exactly slow down next chapter, but we'll finally find out about this Nise character and how he plays into things. Also... (wait for it...wait for it...there it is!) he has a connection to Riku! Yes, it all ties in! So we'll see how all that plays out. And, be prepared, this fic may end soon. I know, it's still only 5 chapters, but...wow, it's really short x-x. Either I didn't develop something properly or the plot isn't as involved as I made it out to be. Or I rushed things horribly. Holy crap I'm ranting. Shut me up... please review, my fingers will love you if they know these hours of typing weren't in vain! 


	6. Chapter 6

I repeat again: This fic is damn short. I really thought it was going to be longer, but it's not looking that way at all. Sad as it seems. I do think I could have put in another whole chapter on just Riku and Sora's bonding since I didn't develop their relationship much, but x-x, that kind of got shoved aside. Sorry about all that. Enjoy!

Katraa: XD, yes, definitely twisty. And family ties are always fun and make people go 'wtf?' most of the time, which is even more fun. Thanks for reviewing!

riku -heart- sora: Uh... what about now? XD, and another cliffy shall be at the end of this chapter. Don't fall off XD, thanks for reviewing!

* * *

Roxas awoke to the sound of dripping water. He opened his eyes and moonlight was filtering in through a large open window. A vaguely familiar throne-like chair came into view and he knew he must be in his father's hide out. It wasn't so much a hide out as a ritual room, but it was the only place he'd seen the tan-haired man in forever. He tried to move, only to realize that he was chained to the wall and as he looked around once more, he saw his cousin chained next to him.

"Sora," he hissed, "Sora!"

"Don't bother," a very familiar and hated voice rang out through the room, "He'll be asleep until about quarter to midnight."

"Seifer," Roxas frowned, "Why are you on his side? He'd easily kill you, too if he had to."

"Ah, but see, he doesn't. No, in fact, he only needs to kill one of you, and my money's on Sora."

"I won't let him," the blonde said, determined.

Seifer chuckled, "If you haven't noticed, you're not going to be given much of a choice." He glanced over his shoulder as another figure emerged into the room, "There's no chance of Riku finding us, right?"

Nise chuckled and slipped his hood off. His silver hair hung so much in the style of Riku's that the two could have been twins. There was something sinister in his eyes, however, that Roxas was sure (though he'd never met Riku) the good twin didn't have.

"Of course not, he has no idea where we are or what's going on. There's no way he can find out."

"The only other one who knows anything is Hayner, and he's as clueless to our location as Riku," Seifer confirmed.

"Then we're all set," the robed teen nodded, "All we need to do is wait for Kai-sama to return and then when the time is right..."

"Why are you doing this?" Roxas frowned, looking to Nise, "Why are you involved?"

"Shut up," Seifer hissed, "It's none of your business."

"He has a point," the silver-haired boy agreed, "Besides, your worthless life isn't worth telling."

Roxas glared at the boy, but kept silent. He sent one more glance at Sora and frowned, _"What are we going to do? Everything seems so hopeless." _

"Shit," Nise muttered, clutching at his arm.

Seifer quirked an eyebrow, "What's your problem?"

"Hell if I know, my arm's burning," the silver-haired boy hissed, pulling up his sleeve.

"Here," the taller boy said, annoyed, and grabbed Nise's arm, pulling his sleeve up. The two stared in shock as black markings wrapped their way around the tanned arm and began to glow a bright golden. Seifer backed away from the Egyptian boy, "What the fuck?" he demanded.

Nise was no longer confused but frowning in concentration. He ran a few fingers over the markings, muttering something under his breath, _"This can't be good."_

"What?" Seifer asked, "What the hell's wrong with your arm?"

"It's nothing," the light-haired teen snapped, "Mind your own business."

Seifer growled lowly, but kept quiet. _"Spoiled brat," _he thought, _"It's too bad father would be upset if I killed him." _

---

Walking along the beaches, Riku sighed impatiently. He rubbed furiously at his arm, _"Go away," _he thought, _"I need to focus on finding Sora." _There was one sure-fire way to find where his look a like had taken him, but he wasn't prepared to go through that again.

"Hey!" someone shouted and as he looked up, he saw a boy he'd never met nor seen before, but from his looks and Sora's description, he could tell the teen was one of the brunette's friends.

"Can I help you?" Riku asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"You're that kid, right?" Hayner asked, "Sora's friend. He said you dressed weird and had silver hair."

Riku nodded slowly, "Yeah. You... haven't seen Sora, have you?"

Hayner shook his head, "No, but I think he's in trouble." The blonde then explained the entire situation of the amulets, all needlessly.

"I knew it," Riku muttered, gripping his arm tighter, _"But I didn't know it would be this soon."_

"You know? How?" The dirty-blonde frowned, "You have a part in all of this?"

"Not exactly," Riku sighed, "When I was young, I ventured a little too far into the desert. I journeyed to a place in the sands where nothing ever survived, but there was the ghost of a maiden there. Not a kind woman, but fair if nothing else. She granted me a way back to my home in return for a price."

Hayner blinked, "A...price?"

The silver-haired boy nodded, "She cursed me, split my soul in two: The half that you see now, and a darker half. I escaped with my life, but a part was left behind."

"I still don't get it. How does that fit in with any of this?"

"There's a boy working for Kai, the one that took Roxas."

Hayner nodded slowly, remembering the events, "And he's..."

"My other half," Riku confirmed, "The darker part of my soul that's in this only for himself." He sighed and shook his head, "But we need to hurry, if they've already collected both Roxas and Sora, then it must be tonight."

"Seifer said it would be," the younger boy agreed, "I just don't know where to find them."

Riku hesitated before rolling his sleeve up. The same golden-glowing markings decorated it and he ran a finger over it lightly, "I do."

"Then let's go, what are you waiting for?" Hayner was nervous and anxious and a million other things, all for good reason. Seifer had used him not only to hinder Roxas from doing anything, but to help himself in the process. As if that weren't enough, Roxas and Sora were both in danger.

"I'd have to re-establish the link that I worked so hard to sever," Riku said slowly, considering all of his options and the consequences of each, "I only severed it because he was stronger than me, he plagued my mind and my thoughts, and I was becoming like him. To link my mind to his again..."

"You could be taken over again?"

"And more, I could be taken fully, if he's been growing stronger while I've been doing nothing." He looked down at the markings covering his arm, _"But if I don't do something, then Sora will die."_

"If you're not going to help, then I'll just-"Hayner began, turning to leave.

"I'll do it," Riku cut him off. He wasn't sure he was ready to face whatever terrors lie inside his mind, but he knew that he didn't want innocent people to be hurt because of his mistakes. "It's my fault he ever came here in the first place, so I'll take care of it."

With thoughts of Sora on his mind and in his heart, Riku closed his eyes and allowed the mark to spread over his body. Soon, his back and chest and arms were covered in it and it rapidly spread down to his legs and up and across his face. The next time he opened his eyes, he was in a room. At least, he assumed it was a room, as nothing but black shrouded the walls, ceiling and floor. A single patch of white stood where he did, as if just him being there illuminated the area. The light spread only a short distance, but it was short enough to see another figure, much like himself, standing in the darkness. This figure was different, though: Its eyes were yellow and its hair black. Its skin was completely covered in the black markings so (unlike Riku's) not a bit of skin was showing through. He looked, for lack of a better word, like a shadow monster, with bits of shadowy darkness leaking off of his head and arms and floating up into the air, disappearing into the blackness of the room. When the creature (for he could no longer be called a boy) spoke, it was in a low and raspy, almost demonic, voice.

"Why do you think that you can beat _me_?" it asked, mockingly, "You were weak all those years ago, and you're weak now."

"Weak as I may be," Riku said in a loud and clear voice, "I won't let you hurt Sora."

It laughed, "Hurt the kid? I want nothing to do with him, that's all Kai-sama's concern. I just want what was promised to me."

"Me, am I right?" the silver-haired boy asked, "Or rather, control over me, so that you can corrupt my soul entirely. It seems half just isn't good enough for you."

"Why would I want half when I can have the power to become whole?" the shadow being wondered, "If a few kids die for that purpose, oh well."

"You are the evil that was in me, all the greed and manipulative bones in my body. I can't expect you to understand compassion, but I will expect you to understand power."

"Power? _You _have power over _me_? I hardly believe that."

"I beat you once, did I not?" Riku questioned, the memories of his long-ago victory rushing back to him.

"With help," the monster reminded him, "and it cost your father his life."

The green-eyed boy frowned, "Be that as it may-"

"You're weak alone, you couldn't even save an old man!" it sneered.

"He was your father, too!" Riku shouted, a look of betrayal and hurt lining his features. While his other half had been left with no compassion and no pure thoughts, he had been comprised of only those things. Though he still sinned, his faults were meager compared to the brutal boy he once was.

"My father? _My _father?" it repeated, scathingly, "I have no family nor friends, and I want none. I'm not like _you_, you're still soft and weak as a human."

"And being a cold and ruthless monster is better?" Riku questioned, knowing that this banter was only stalling. If he kept it up much longer, he'd be too late. His other half knew that, too, and this place seemed to suck the energy from him. The place where their minds joined and flooded together was not Riku's domain, but his darker half's. It wasn't a place he was meant to be, and if he stayed much longer, he knew he'd be dead and useless to Sora.

"I get power and anything I want," the evil of his soul said, "Of course it's better. I'm not tied down with emotions or friends or family."

"That sounds real nice," Riku lied, "but you are tied down by one thing."

It laughed again, "Oh? And what might that be?"

"Me." Before his darker half could react, Riku raced toward it, the light fleeting behind him. As he reached the monster and their skin and bodies collided, a burst of golden light sparked where they touched. Soon, everything was blinded in gold.

"No, damn it!" the creature screamed, "You won't last a minute in my body and you know it!"

"I only need a second," was Riku's reply as the light faded and he found himself kneeled over on the floor of a room he didn't recognize. He could feel the darkness and insanity eating away at his mind and body. He struggled to stand up, and found Seifer and Kai both staring at him.

"Is everything alright?" Kai asked, not concerned in the least bit as he turned his attention toward a rather gaudy knife in his hands.

Riku glanced quickly at the clock to see there was only five minutes until midnight. The only problem was, he wasn't sure he could last five minutes. He had switched their bodies, and thus their locations. He knew he didn't have to worry about Hayner-- his darker half would have just as hard a time, if not harder, in his body.

"Fine," Riku rasped out, his voice coming out as the same demonic vocals that he had heard from the creature in his mind.

"It's that fool, isn't it?" Seifer asked, scowling, "That Riku prick."

"Riku?" Sora asked, having been conscious for nearly ten minutes by now.

"Shut up," Seifer snapped, "You won't have to worry about him, Nise will kill him just as surely as father will kill you."

Riku watched the man known as Kai glance at the clock: Only three minutes left. The silver-haired boy gritted his teeth as the darkness of his soul suffocated him. He had to act fast; had to get back in his body. But first, he had to find out where they were. The large window that sat on the opposite side of the room gave a clear view of the city, but Riku soon realized that he had been in the town less than a month, and nothing looked familiar. A vertical building that still looked under construction, a clear view of the moon hovering over the crashing waves, too many building too count. None of it looked recognizable, and his only hope was that Hayner would know where they were.

* * *

And thus shall end the chapter. The next chapter will be the next to last, but the last chapter's only going to be an epilogue. So, come on, I'm taking bets. Who thinks Sora's going to die? Roxas? XD, Kai or Seifer? Or maybe Riku and Nise? I'm telling you now at least two people will be dead. Hope you enjoyed, the next chapter will be out soon! 


	7. Chapter 7

Back on the beach, Hayner watched as, before his eyes, the boy he had just met doubled over in what appeared to be pain. He let out a few, strangled rasps of breath and the blonde frowned in concern.

"Hey, are you alright?" he asked, taking a cautious step closer.

"Stay away from me!" the creature now inhabiting Riku's body shouted. He clawed at the ground, chest heaving with pained breaths. "Riku...I'll kill you!"

"Riku?" Hayner repeated with a frown. "So you're..." With a low growl, he advanced on the other boy and pulled him up. "Where's Roxas? Where's Sora?"

Nise only gave a short laugh, the most he could with what felt like the oxygen being ripped from his lungs. "You really think I'd tell you? This won't work. Even if Riku does know where they are, you'll never reach them in time." Speaking of time, he felt his own quickly dwindling in this body. That must mean Riku was suffering, as well, though. Knowing he could do nothing in the debilitated state he was in, Nise wasn't concerned that their plans would be stopped.

"Tell me!" Hayner shouted, drawing back a fist to smash the heartless boy's face in.

Nise smirked at the younger one. "Time's up," he grinned, jerking his head toward the large clock that hovered over the town.

Hayner's eyes followed the trail, settling on the second hand that slowly ticked toward midnight. There wasn't enough time. Even if Riku knew. Even if they ran as fast as they could. It was over. Feeling the fight drain from him, Hayner slumped down to his knees, eyes dulling over with defeat. In the end, he had been useless.

"What are you doing?" The choked, raspy voice of Nise was replaced by a smoother, friendlier tone.

Hayner looked up to see a bright-eyed and perfectly healthy Riku standing in front of him. "It's over...isn't it?" he murmured.

With a slight grin, Riku reached down and grabbed Hayner up by his arm. "Not yet," he said, an air of excitement in his voice. "Turn of events, so to speak. Do you know where the construction site is?" He hoped there was only one around.

"Construction?" Hayner asked, frowning slightly, "I don't know of any place that's under construction."

Riku's heart fell and he looked down to the ground. _"Sora..." _It was hopeless to try the same trick again-- Nise would be on his guard now and even if Riku managed to get back into his other half's body, he wasn't sure he had the energy to fight off the darkness again.

"Wait...wait a minute!" Hayner suddenly brightened.

"What is it?" Riku asked, but no answer came as the blonde grabbed his wrist and drug him down the streets.

"Olette said something about a new shopping mall, I'm sure of it!" Hayner finally answered as they rounded the corner to the group's secret hideout.

Sure enough, they rushed in to Olette, Pence, Kairi, Namine, Tidus, and Wakka sitting around the small den-like place. Wakka raised a hand in greeting. "What's up?"

"Who's the new kid?" Tidus asked, studying Riku up and down.

"He's cute," Kairi whispered to Olette, who giggled and nodded in agreement.

Hayner shook his head. "Olette, where did you say that new shopping mall was being built?"

"Shopping? _You_, Hayner?" the brunette asked, skeptically.

"Maybe the new kid's his boyfriend," Tidus said with a grin.

"Guys, I'm serious, Sora and Roxas are in trouble!" the flustered boy shouted.

"What do you mean?" Kairi asked, frowning.

"I don't have time to explain, just tell me where it is."

"It's over on the east side of town," Olette said.

"The east side? That's at least ten minutes away." Hayner groaned and buried his face in his hands.

"It's only a minute to midnight," Riku muttered, looking toward the giant clock tower in the center of town.

"Guys, what's going on?" Kairi asked, now more worried.

"Come on, we don't have time to waste," Riku said, this time being the one to grab Hayner's wrist and run off. "If he can stall, maybe we can make it in time."

"He?" Hayner parroted, allowing himself to be drug along.

"Yeah," Riku glanced over his shoulder at the puzzled blonde, "Seifer."

* * *

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Kai nearly snarled at the boy standing in front of him, a determined gaze he matched with fierceness.

"There has to be another way," Seifer told him. He gritted his teeth lightly against his own conviction. He wasn't quite sure what was going on with Nise and Riku, but he knew the two were connecting somehow, and he had the feeling that, for a few moments, Riku had been in the room with them, instead. During that time, he swore he'd heard the Egyptian mutter something about Hayner, and it had set him off.

Hayner. Hayner would never forgive him if he let Roxas or Sora die. Why did he care? Honestly, he couldn't figure it out himself, but there was no doubt in his heart when he moved in front of Kai, to stop him from killing Sora. In the end, he was another sap that sold out to love. What a crock.

"Get out of my way," Kai growled. "Do you want _all_ of us to die?"

"You're a greedy bastard," Seifer spat back. "You'd find a way to save yourself, and that means saving us, too."

The twisted grin that pulled up the corner of Kai's lips was unmistakable. "That's where you're wrong." The knife shifted in his hand and raised to Seifer's throat, the other hand tightly clenched around the two necklaces. "The ritual only requires one of our lives. It doesn't matter whose." His eyes darted to the clock hanging on the wall. The seconds ticked down.

_Five..._

Seifer's eyes narrowed. "Is that your choice, then?"

_Four..._

"Is this yours?" Kai countered, a slight frown tugging at his lips. "To sacrifice yourself for...what? The happiness of someone _else_?" (_Three...) _He gave a short laugh. "He won't be happy, in the end, anyway. He'll be losing you, won't he?"

_Two..._

Seifer hesitated, for just a moment, then grinned and grabbed Kai's wrist. "He's probably better off without me, anyway."

_One..._

Prepared to take the plunge, Seifer yanked Kai's arm toward him, only to be met with the resistance of muscles much stronger than his. Confused, panicked, and a bit pissed, he snapped his gaze back up to Kai, who only shook his head and gave a chuckle.

"Did you really think I'd let my own son kill himself?"

Seifer went to reply, but was cut short by a burning sensation creeping up his leg. "What...what the hell?!" His pant leg was pulled up to reveal very familiar, black markings crawling up his skin. He shot a look toward Nise, who was watching the entire scene with mild interest. "You...you're the one that cursed us?"

The silver-haired boy grinned. "Your father was there when it happened. He was the young Prince Riku's dedicated bodyguard, always looking out for the runt." A sadistic gleam shone in his eye as the markings traveled up the group's legs and burned its way onto their hands. "I was always a part of Riku. I knew how much your father just _loved_ his family, and I made a decision then and there to use that to my advantage."

"You cursed him, telling him that in exchange for a way to lift the curse, and save his family, he had to either kill one of his bloodline, or give you a way to take me over." Riku frowned in his other half's direction. "Well, here I am. Now stop it."

Nise laughed dryly, grinning at his twin. "It's too late, now. It's already started. Don't forget, though," His head jerked toward Sora and Roxas, still chained to the wall, "they'll die, too. Better think of something quick, _prince_."

"Riku," Sora mumbled out, wincing from the burning marks that had consumed all but his upper torso and face.

Riku grit his teeth and charged toward Nise, tackling him to the ground. "I know you can stop it, so do it! You can have me, just leave them out of it, you selfish bastard!"

"Hayner!" Seifer had set to work freeing the imprisoned boys, and motioned him over.

The blonde frowned, but his growing concern for the entire family threw away any feelings of betrayal that he might have had. He raced to them, helping his (ex?)boyfriend lower Sora and Roxas to the ground. "What's going to happen?"

Seifer, for some reason, felt guilty at the fear and dread he heard in the other's voice. "I don't know," he admitted in a low tone. He turned his attention back to the two foreigners, knowing that Riku probably held the key to saving them.

"Seifer." The name was said with unusual compassion.

"Huh?" the punk turned his head upward to see Kai approaching him, frowning at the serious expression lining his face. "What is it?"

"The curse," Kai told him, the necklaces and dagger still held tightly in his hands, "if it's broken, I have a feeling it will break the wall separating Riku's and Nise's souls, as well."

"So they'll..." Seifer understood, then. Everything was linked, though his head hurt at trying to connect it all at once. "No," he said, shaking his head resolutely, "I won't let you kill Sora."

"I wasn't planning on it. I never was." Kai gave a light chuckle as both his son and Hayner looked up at him in mild confusion. "I knew if Sora was involved, that eventually he and Riku would meet, and that they would inadvertently fall for each other."

"You planned to have Riku sacrifice himself to break the curse, to save Sora," Seifer muttered.

"But I made a bit of a miscalculation," Kai admitted, glancing back to the struggling pair as he felt the markings advance up his chest and neck. "Riku isn't strong enough to overpower Nise on his own." With a light sigh, he placed a hand on Seifer's head. "Don't interfere, and take care of your brother."

Seifer blinked a couple times. "Don't interfere with wha-...hey!" Kai's intentions were obvious as he moved toward the pair of silver-haired boys. "That's not fair! You can't leave us!"

Kai gave a light smile over his shoulder. "You're probably better off without me."

Feeling rather powerless at having his own words used against him, and understanding the level of sacrifice it took to say and mean those words, Seifer could only watch blankly as the events unfolded before him.

Kai approached Riku and Nise, the latter of which had easily pinned his weaker half to the ground, and grabbed the evil twin up by his hair. "Play nice, boys," he chided.

"Get off of me," Nise growled, swiping a clawed hand across Kai's face. "You'll be dead in a few minutes, anyway."

"Riku," Kai said, though kept his sights trained on Nise, "be ready."

"Ready?" the younger boy repeated. "Ready for-" he stopped then, noticing the dagger and necklaces. His lips twitched upward for a brief moment in understanding, before nodding. "Do it."

"You shouldn't have tried to mess with my family," Kai informed Nise, slinging him into the nearest wall. Taking a deep breath, he looped the necklaces around his own neck and gave Riku one, last glance. "Watch out for them, they're all troublemakers." Then, without another moment of hesitation, he plunged the knife through the necklaces and into his own chest, grunting as a different sort of burning filled his body.

"You bastard!" Nise shrieked, standing as the markings enveloped Riku, himself, and Kai.

Jumping to his feet, as well, Riku pulled the dagger from Kai's chest, the man's body fully dissolving into black, archaic letters that wrapped around the weapon. Gripping the handle firmly, Riku let out a shout as the pitch blackness that enveloped him turned into a brilliant gold. With a grin of satisfaction, he rushed toward Nise once more, plunging the knife deep into his stomach.

Then, again, everything blurred away as he found himself in that same room again. This time, though, the walls and ceiling were covered in a brilliant white, and only the shadowy figure of his worse side darkened the surroundings.

"It's over," Riku told him, eyeing the dagger that was still plunged into the creature's stomach.

"I'll never let you have me," Nise hissed. "I refuse to return to you!"

Riku grinned. "Good," he said, simply. "I didn't want you back, anyway." He stepped toward his other half. "Just disappear."

"You can't just get rid of me." Nise, ready to attack Riku once more, halted his movements before they even began. A warm, sickeningly pleasant feeling in his stomach drew his attention to the dagger, which had turned from wicked black to stunning white.

"Maybe not alone," Riku agreed, "but I can, with his help."

Nise attempted to pull the blade from his stomach, becoming more and more furious as his attempts proved futile. "No... you can't survive without me! You'll die, too!"

"Wrong," Riku told him, holding up the arm that had linked them together before, void of any markings. "See? I'm all clear."

"You...bastard!" Nise shouted once more as the warm feeling suffocated him, a bright light encompassing his entire body and drowning out his shouts.

Then, Riku was alone. His stance relaxed considerably as he closed his eyes. "So, that's it," he murmured to no one. "It's over."

The blinding white faded and he found himself, once again, in the large room where Seifer and Hayner were attempting to wake Roxas and Sora. He noticed, relieved, that the three relatives were free of any evil curses. As he approached the group, Seifer looked up at him, nearly troubled.

"They're not waking up."

Riku bent down next to Sora, cupping his cheek lightly. "The stress was probably too much for their bodies to handle," he surmised. "We should get them back home, and let them rest."

"I'll take Roxas home," Hayner offered.

"I don't know where Sora lives," Riku admitted.

"Jeez," Seifer grumbled, finally standing. "I'll take him."

"I'm coming with you," the silver-haired boy insisted, scooping the brunette into his arms.

Seifer visibly rolled his eyes and headed for the door. "Great, this'll be loads of fun."

"Does he need to be that sarcastic?" Riku wondered.

Picking Roxas up, with a slight grin, Hayner chuckled. "He grows on you, after a while."

"You people are...strange," the prince decided, and followed Seifer back to the streets of Twilight Town, Hayner close behind.

* * *

_One Week Later_

"Sorry, we're late!" Sora pushed through the entrance to his friends' secret hideout, Riku following close behind him. "This guy didn't have any normal clothes, so we had to go shopping."

"Shopping?!" Kairi demanded, looking highly offended. "And you didn't invite me?"

Sora chose a seat _away_ from the fire-breathing dragon and gave a sheepish shrug. "It wasn't planned, or anything."

"Besides," Seifer spoke up, a wicked grin slipping across his lips, "I don't think Riku could've survived clothes shopping with _two_ girls."

Hayner, who was comfortably seated in his still-boyfriend's lap, gave the older boy a light jab with his elbow. "Be nice."

"This is as nice as Seifer _gets_," Roxas reminded him.

"See? Roxas understands. Why can't you be more like him?" Seifer broke out laughing at the annoyed glare he received.

"Well," Olette announced, standing from her seat next to Tidus and Wakka and turning her attention to Kairi. "Since we weren't included, I say we make up for some missed-out shopping!"

A collective groan came from the direction of the males, who would be inadvertently drug along. Kairi beamed and turned to Namine. "We can go buy those dresses we were looking at the other day!"

The fragile girl gave an agreeable nod and stood with the rest of the group, filing out with them, one by one.

"Sora," Riku said, catching the brunette's wrist before he exited behind the group.

"Huh?" The younger one glanced over his shoulder. "What is it, Riku?" He only blinked as he was turned around to fully face the taller boy, a light blush rushing to his cheeks at just how _close_ they were.

"Thank you," Riku murmured, bending down and pressing his lips to the other's flushed ones. He was sure Sora would have no idea what he was being thanked for, the absent-minded boy that he was, but it was just as well. A light smirk lit up Riku's face at the stunned reaction he received, and he ruffled the mess of brown hair. "Come on," he said, in a bit of a louder voice, "let's go buy you a dress, or something."

Sora just barely processed the words as Riku dashed from the hideout. "A...wait! Riku! I'm not wearing a dress!" With a huff, Sora chased his (boy?)friend out and down the streets of Twilight Town.

* * *

Riku's a prince because it's sexy and...he needed Kai around for some reason, and any other explanation except bodyguard probably would have turned perverted and weird. Well, I was asked to finish this, so I did. Jeez, apparently it's been two years since I wrote anything on it. I wonder how different the writing style is? Well, hopefully it's only better. Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
